You can #stayhome and help. ‘Donate your birthday’ shows you how

What are you doing for your birthday this year? Maybe you won’t raise a glass with your best friends. Maybe you won’t dance to blues or rock. Nor ask yourselves where to go out. But now, we can be together more than ever, even if we #stayhome. Only together we can change the picture we live in. For you, for me, for Romania, #rewritethestory, Donate your birthday!

This is the message the team that created the Galantom platform is sending out to people, encouraging them to donate their birthday and ask their loved ones that, instead of presents, they give/donate to a cause they support.

Each day, the news shows us at least 10 bad things that happen around us. That adds up to 3650 bad news a year. That’s why the project Donate your birthday(Dăruiește ziua ta) wants to reunite 3651 fundraising pages by the end of the year, a number that tilts the balance towards good. We will do this with the help of 3651 good people who, for their birthday, choose to support one of the 265 organizations activating in various areas, from health, human rights and social inclusion, to art, environment and education on the Galantom.ro platform.

Andrei Chirtoc, one of the founders of the project, says „it’s an emotionally tense period and we tend to get caught up with all sorts of worries. It’s totally natural and human. But in all this turmoil there are many groups that are far more vulnerable and NGOs still need our help, maybe now more than ever. Donate your birthday is the alternative we offer to those who want to help the community and do good on their birthday. Together, birthday by birthday, good deed by good deed, we can change things. We can rewrite the story, while we live it”.

Thinking about those around us is one of the best things we can do while we stay at home. We can change the things that aren’t going so well with small gestures that we haven’t even considered, such as donating our birthday.

The reality we live in is illustrated on the platform by artist Raluca Băraru, using animated murals presenting the main areas the NGOs on the platform activate in. We all live in the same picture and it is up to all of us to change it. That is why, at the center of it all are the people who do good and help by donating their birthday. All they have to do is post it on ziuata.galantom.ro and invite their friends to support them.

”The creative concept I worked on came from Jazz Communication. Also, we were inspired by the works of Bosch, because of his particular vision on changing perspective and the richness of details that, metaphorically, are perfect at describing our everyday life scenes. I think that there is always a chance that next to a comic detail, a tragic moment takes place. These kinds of moments are particularly visible in these hard times. That is why, I think solidarity is very important. If those that are part of the happy script would become aware of those around them and their needs, I think the picture would look different. But I am sure people can become superheroes, especially on their birthday, and during this period they will have a more compassionate approach when it comes to what goes on around them”, said Raluca Băraru, visual illustrator & author of the mural.

Those who want to donate their birthday in the coming period, can help Romania fight against Covid-19, by choosing to support campaigns that raise donations to aid the medical system to have a better response during the pandemics, or donating for other projects that focus on assisting those who are vulnerable.

Choose the cause you want to support. You can choose one of the projects created by the organizations on the platform or you can suggest a new organization.

Create a donation page in a couple of minutes, filling out some information; birthday, contact information, page name and the amount that you want to raise. Then, you can personalize the page with your photo and a text explaining your motivation.

Spread the good news. Promote the donation page online, as if it were an invitation to your online party. Encourage your friends to support you and, instead of getting you presents, donate to the cause you created.

On Galantom.ro you can also fundraise for a social project from home, using other creative ways: sports challenges, donate other special days in your life, such as a wedding or a baptism, offer a passion or a talent, 30 Day Smoke Free Challenge, 30 Day Fundraising Challenge and others. Find out more about how you can support a cause from home here.

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